This Mask of Glass
by zombietron
Summary: -COMPLETE- Riku considers himself straight. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?
1. The Dare

**This Mask of Glass**

**By:** psych0tic  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters they are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. Boo hoo. BUT! But I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...  
**Summary:** Riku considers himself 'straight'. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

**Chapter One: The Dare**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku walked towards Sora's locker. He was supposed to ask the boy out on a date due to the fact of some silly game that he played last night with Leon. He silently cursed the brunette for daring him to ask a guy out, a **GUY**, for Christ's sake. _Everyone_ knew Riku wasn't gay. The silver haired boy looked around the hallway and saw Leon lurking across the hall. The brunette smirked at Riku as he leaned against the lockers. Riku rolled his eyes and proceeded towards Sora's locker.

The petite brunette reached his locker the same time Riku did. Ocean blue eyes rose to meet sea green eyes and a little gasp emitted from his mouth. _What is Riku doing here... By my locker?_ Sora wondered as he gulped what little saliva he had in his mouth.

Riku tried to look normal. "Hey," he said in his usual tone. Sora stared at him with wide eyes. _Why is he talking to me?_ Sora asked himself. Then realizing that he was being spoken to he shook his head of the thoughts and responded with a quiet 'hello'.

Riku half smiled at the boy's timid response and inched closer, blocking the boy's path to his locker. "Ah... Can I ask you something?"

Sora nodded and waited for Riku to proceed with his question. He watched as the silver haired boy took in a deep breath and opened his mouth. But whatever Riku had to say was drowned out by the ringing of the bell. Students around them hurried off to homeroom and soon they were the only two students in the hall.

"Well?" Sora prodded, he didn't want to be late for class or anything.

Riku realized that he was blocking the boy's locker and he moved just in time to see Leon hide behind the corner.

"Well... I wanted to ask you if... You wanted to... Be my... my..."

"Your...?"

"My boyfriend."

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora dropped his books. His ears were damn lying to him. He stared at the silver haired boy in front of him, like he was crazy. "I'm... sorry, what?" he asked.

Riku exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I asked you if you wanted to be my boyfriend..." he repeated. Sea green eyes shifted to the ground. Damn this was embarrassing...

Sora still couldn't believe his ears. Nor could he believe that the sexiest guy in school was asking _him_ to be _his_ boyfriend. The brunette pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

"Ow!" He exclaimed when he pinched his arm. He looked up at the silver haired boy who rose an eyebrow at his odd behavior. Sora laughed sheepishly and looked down at the ground.

"So... What do you say?" Riku said, his voice piercing the silence.

"Nnn... Yeah," Sora replied quietly, a little blush on his cheeks.

Riku smirked in triumph. "Great," he replied and bent down to pick up his boyfriend's books. He handed the brunette the dropped books and was well on his way to homeroom. The silver haired boy just hoped Leon saw it all.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

END OF CHAPTER. Hahaha. I don't know if it's good or anything o.O. Inspiration just hit and I wrote whatever came to mind so... Don't pay attention if the story just... Makes no sense. Please review if you want this continued!


	2. Gossip

**This Mask of Glass**

**By:** psych0tic  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters they are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. Boo hoo. BUT! But I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...  
**Summary: **Riku considers himself 'straight'. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

**Chapter Two: Gossip**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

"_Come on," Leon urged the silver haired boy. "You **have** to play dare or double dare with me..."_

_Riku laughed at the desperate look in his best friend's eyes. Seriously, who knew Leon would be a person to love the game of dare or double dare. Usually he was a quiet and serious person. But tonight..._

"_JUST PLAY IT WITH ME DAMN IT!!"_

_The silver haired boy laughed some more. "All right, all right, I'll play it with you, jeez," he responded to his friend's unnatural outburst._

_A calming smile donned the brunette's features. "Good," he responded and took a seat on Riku's plush leather couch. Another silver haired teen entered the room._

"_Sephiroth..." Riku said as he watched the teen silently walk into the living room. "What the hell are you doing home?!"_

_Sephiroth faced the two teens in the living room. "I have as much a right as you do to be here," he said, coldly, to his brother. Riku shrugged and sat himself on the easy chair before the fireplace._

"_I'll go first," Riku announced, getting Leon's attention back. "Dare? Or double dare?"_

_Leon, not really wanting the risk of double dare, chose the former. "Dare," he chose._

_A smirk played it's way on Riku's lips. "I dare... You to go into Aerith's room, take her underwear, and wear it on your head for the rest of the night."_

_Leon flinched. Who knew Riku could be so childish... Leon sighed and stared at Riku. "Where's her room?" he asked._

"_Upstairs-- to your left," Sephiroth answered as he made his way into the living room. Leon stood up to follow through with his dare. Minutes later he was back, with a pair of pink lacey underwear donning his head. The edges of Sephiroth's lips curled upward and Riku let out a long laugh. Luckily, Aerith was spending the night at Yuffie's house._

_Leon sarcastically smiled at the two as he sat down. "Dare or double dare?" he asked the younger silver haired teen._

"_Double dare," Riku chose. He always chose double dare... It was... so much for fun doing it._

_Leon stared at him. It seemed that the pink lacy panties had sucked his brain out. He didn't know what to double dare Riku. So he looked at Sephiroth for ideas. An evil smirk crept upon the older silver haired teens face. He knew the perfect dare._

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

"So he just asked you, right there, in the hallway?" Kairi asked, a doubtful expression on her face. After all this was Riku they were talking about... And it just didn't seem likely that he _knew_ who Sora was. Also the fact that they just found out that Riku was either gay or bisexual added to her curiosity.

"Mmhm," Sora hummed with a little nod of his head.

"And... Now you're his boyfriend?" Kairi asked, slowly.

"Yeah..." Sora said as he shifted his eyes to the food in front of him. It was lunchtime and the whole cafeteria was packed. No one was paying attention to the two sitting in one of the corner tables talking about Sora's new boyfriend.

"Huh," Kairi said before picking up her fork. She stabbed her spaghetti with the plastic utensil and then looked up at Sora. "Well, I'm happy for you!" she said with a smile.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku wandered through the school building during lunchtime. The halls were empty, save for a few students here and there. They all looked at him as if he were some kind of God or something. He just didn't understand why half the school was infatuated with him while the other was infatuated with his brother, Sephiroth.

He sighed, frustrated. He didn't know why Sephiroth told Leon to dare him something like... Well, something like that! It was supposed to be an innocent game of dare or double dare until Sephy had to bump in. Now it was just a troublesome mess. Not to mention, when the whole school finds out, his reputation would drop. And he couldn't quite handle that. He was used to all these girls stalking him, asking him for his number...

**But he never thought to actually date one of them.**

So here he was. Supposedly dating another guy... Another guy he never heard of or even knew existed in this school. Instantly an image of a pink-cheeked Sora entered his mind. _But he was so cute..._

Riku shook his head. _What the hell am I thinking?_ He asked himself. _I'm straight. I'm straight. I'm straight. I'm—_

"SORRY ABOUT THAT!" Sora squeaked as he realized that he bumped into someone. The petite brunette's cheeks instantly reddened as he saw whom it was. His red haired friend giggled at his predicament.

"It's alright," Riku said, looking down at a boy with a flamingly red face. When he heard the giggle he saw a familiar looking red haired girl.

"Hi," she said energetically to Riku and nudged Sora in the ribs. Sora gasped at the contact and glared at her. Kairi giggled at him with a huge grin on her face. Riku couldn't help but chuckle at the cuteness that was expressed in front of him. Usually the students that bumped into him would apologize and leave quickly or... proceed to asking him out on a date.

"H-hello," Sora stammered and looked down at the ground. He still couldn't believe he was going out with Riku.

"What're you doing wandering the halls all alone?" Kairi asked the silver haired teen. Riku looked at the red haired girl for awhile. And then it hit him! She was in his science class.

"Aren't you in my science class?" he asked her, blandly.

"Huh?" Sora looked up, making his presence known. "Kairi you never told me!" he accused. The red haired girl only giggled and backed her way from the two.

"I'll just leave you two alone, ne," she said and entered the women's bathroom, which was, right behind her.

The two boys stared at each other in silence.

"So..." Sora said slowly, his eyes never moving from Riku's.

"D'you wanna go somewhere?" Riku asked the brunette.

Suddenly Sora's cheeks reddened. What to do? What to do!? "Sure!" he blurted out. He hoped he didn't sound desperate... Or too eager, for that matter.

"Great," Riku said, a smile creeping onto his lips. He outstretched his hand and Sora hesitated before taking it. They walked down the hall, hand in hand; unbeknownst to the strange stares they were given. Or the pair of green eyes that watched them from the distance.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora entered his empty house, full of smiles. He just had the best day of his life. Not only did he skip school. But he skipped school with one of the most popular kids in his school. It just made him so... He squirmed with delight as he shut the door to his house.

The brunette fell onto his couch and picked up his phone. He _had _to tell Kairi all about his little date. He just had to. It was his duty. After all, they were best friends. Sooo, he dialed the red head's number and waited for her to pick up her phone, all the while humming to himself.

"Hello?" the all too familiar voice of Kairi sounded through the phone.

"Hey!" Sora said with a smile on his face. He twirled a lock of his hair with his finger.

"So... How was your date-thing-a-ma-jigg?" she asked.

And Sora told her all about it.

While she was listening she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Why should Sora get Riku? It only seemed fair that _she_ should've gotten him. After all... He actually knew she existed; what with them being science partners and what not. It just made more sense. Also it was more accepting to the world.

Kairi gave out 'uh-huh's' at all the right times and even managed to make it sound like she wasn't jealous at all. But she really was. And she did have a teeny crush on Riku... So when they hung up the phone Kairi immediately went to write in her diary. The one she kept away from everyone. Even Sora.

_Dear Diary,_

_It seems like Sora's found himself a boyfriend. And I can't help but a little jealous of his catch. Sure I should be happy and I am! Seriously. But... Remember that Riku guy I'm always going on about to you? Yeah well... That's Sora's boyfriend. I **cannot** believe it. It's not fair. I liked him first so that means that I get first dibs, right!? Ugh, it's just so... AH! Hopefully I'll get over this..._

_Love,_

_Kairi_

She re-read her entry and when she seemed satisfied she locked the lavender book and hid it in its special place. The bookshelf.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Hehe. Thanks for all of your reviews! I appreciate it! And... –gasp- What's this!?!?! Haha, Kairi's jealous. Tsk, tsk. Anyway... You guys can predict what happens. I don't mind ;D. Reviewwwwww!!!!


	3. I Never Back Down

**This Mask of Glass**

**By: **psych0tic  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters they are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. Boo hoo. BUT! But I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...  
**Summary:** Riku considers himself 'straight'. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

**Chapter Three: I Never Back Down**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

It was a week since the dare. Which meant that Riku and Sora have been going out for a week. Sora seemed happy with it and so did Riku... even though his happiness was a bit forced. Needless to say the entire population of the school wasn't as happy as Sora. Nor were they half as happy. In fact Riku's hordes of fan girls and fan boys... wanted Sora to die. Plain and simple as that. Also the teachers didn't approve nor did the student's parents. Although, why they cared about who was going out with who... No one really knew.

The silver haired boy was staring at the security and tons of other students who took to watching the couple. It was just so irritating and it always got him riled up. HE WASN'T EVEN SERIOUS ABOUT THIS. HE WAS JUST GOING THROUGH WITH THE DARE!!! But would he ever announce something like that? Apparently no.

"Nosy bastards," Riku said, his statement directed to the people watching them.

He and Sora sat underneath the oak tree during lunch. They stopped going to the cafeteria when everyone started crowding around their table. This spot... Well, this spot... it was their spot and no one came near—save for Kairi, Leon, Selphie...

Sora stopped chewing his sandwich and stared at Riku, "Who...?" he asked. I hope he doesn't mean me... the brunette thought as he observed Riku's expression. Apparently the older teen had his eyes narrowed, mouth clenched shut, and was whispering obscenities.

"Them," Riku growled and pointed at the nosy people.

"Oh," Sora said softly as his eyes glazed over the crowd.

"It's like they've never fucking seen a fucking couple before," Riku said as he roughly bit into his sandwich.

"Well, I guess it's because we--"

"Don't give me that 'it's cause we're guys and that's different' shit. I swear... Even Cloud's staring at us and he's in a "sort of relationship" with Leon."

Sora's eyes widened. "He's in a relationship with Leon!?!?!"

Riku looked at his boyfriend curiously. "Yeah... Why do you wanna know?"

"Well it just means that we're not the only ones," Sora said with a small smile.

"Oh," Riku said and took another bite out of his sandwich. He glanced over at Sora, who was looking at his sandwich with disgust. "D'you wanna bite of mine?" he offered.

Sora snapped his eyes up from his bologna sandwich. "N-no, bologna's fine with me," Sora stammered.

Riku laughed a bit. "Quit lying. I know you hate bologna," he said as he shoved his teriyaki sandwich underneath the brunette's nose, temptingly. "Take a bite," he ordered, his eyes still on Sora.

Sora hesitated before taking a large bite. He chewed thoughtfully and when he swallowed took another bite. Seconds later he had devoured Riku's sandwich. Giggling sheepishly he leaned against the trunk of the tree.

"Sorry about that," he said as he looked at Riku who was smiling at him quizzically.

"Hungry much?" Riku said with a little laugh of his own. "It's okay though," he said as he wrapped his arms around Sora. He figured it was what would satisfy Leon of the dare. At least that's what he told himself.

The two boys cuddled underneath the oak tree. A soft breeze teasing with strands of their hair. The day was perfect.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku entered his house after walking Sora home from school. It was empty and dark and perhaps a bit cold. He kicked his shoes off and walked down the hall and towards the living room. Sephiroth wasn't home. Aerith wasn't home. It was a Friday and he had nothing to do.

He flipped on the light, illuminating his living room in a fluorescent orange glow. He threw himself onto his couch and hugged a throw pillow to his chest. _Maybe he should've invited Sora over for the weekend..._ Riku shook his head. He didn't want to get _too_ carried away with this dare. After all it was going to end in 3 weeks. Three more weeks of being with Sora-- then he'd have to break it off and pretend it never happened. Or would Sora request that they still be friends?

Riku's thinking time was cut short, however, by the sound of Aerith's persistent knocking on the door.

"I'm coming!!" Riku yelled and got off the couch to open the door for his older sister. She always forgot her keys. So this wasn't an abnormal occurrence. Once the longhaired brunette entered the house a black haired girl-- Yuffie, followed her in. Yuffie was an energetic person; she always wore a green tank top with some really short khaki shorts.

"Hey Yuffie," Riku said as he closed the door after the two girls.

"Heeey!" Yuffie said to Riku as she kicked off her shoes and followed Aerith into the living room, which was, conveniently connected to the kitchen.

"How do you manage not to freeze your ass off out there?" Riku asked as he followed the two girls into the living room. Yuffie shrugged as she jumped into the armchair.

"So how're you and Sora?" Aerith asked as she seated herself onto the leather couch.

"Aa... We're doing pretty good," Riku replied as he re-claimed his spot on the couch.

"Cool! But if you make him cry you'll be hearing from me, you got that!?!?" Yuffie said in a mock angry voice.

"Yeah, yeah," Riku said as he rolled his eyes. "Why do you care anyway?" he added.

"Because... He's the cutest thing I ever met!! And you're sooo lucky to be his boyfriend" the short haired girl answered in a sing song tone.

Aerith giggled as she saw a little blush appear on Riku's face.

"But you never told me that you liked boys..." Yuffie simpered as she looked at Riku with big huge chibi eyes.

"I don't," Riku said quickly without thinking. The silver haired boy watched as a look of puzzlement came across Yuffie's face. Then he just realized what he had said.

"I mean... I don't like boys who act all... tough," Riku said, recovering himself. He didn't want Yuffie or Aerith to find out that he had been dared to go out with Sora.

"Oh," Yuffie said and looked around for the remote to the TV. When she found it she turned the TV on and proceeded to watching a cartoon show. Riku sighed and looked towards Aerith who was looking at him in a strange way. The brunette got up from the couch and motioned for Riku to follow her. They went all the way into the dining room, which was in a far off corner of the house.

"What?" Riku asked his sister as they came to a stop. Aerith turned around and observed him some more.

"Back there... When you said you didn't like boys..." she said.

"Yeah...?" Riku said. He didn't know where she was getting at.

"Why are you going out with Sora when you don't like boys?"

"Well, maybe I've changed my mind..."

"Don't lie to me. Last Friday was you and Leon's annual game of dare or double dare wasn't it?"

Riku was surprised. How did she know this!?! "How did you--"

"I have my connections," she winked at him. "But what you're doing to Sora it's... It's just not right. You have to tell him right away!"

"But it hasn't been a month yet."

"Oh?" Aerith looked really mad right now. "So you have to tell him in a month!? What the hell Riku!? Do you not care about his feelings!? Why'd you do this dare!?"

Riku glared into his sisters emerald green eyes. The same color as his. The same color as Sephiroth's. They all had the same color eyes...

"I did this dare," Riku said quietly. "Because I never back down from anything."

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Another week passed and the end of Riku's little dare was growing nearer and nearer. He figured this out all on a little date to the nearby café with Sora. They were sitting across from each other in the coffee scented café. Sora took a sip of his milk shake and stared at Riku. The silver haired teen seemed troubled by something...

"What's wrong?" Sora asked after minutes of staring and not getting a response. Riku snapped out of his daze and his eyes met briefly with Sora's.

"Nothing," Riku responded as he stared into the contents of his mug. "It's just..." he sighed and took a sip of his coffee. His eyes darted back up to Sora's oceanic blue orbs. And yet again he was mesmerized. No such eyes as deep and blue existed...

Sora blushed as Riku's eyes lingered on him. He took this chance to try to read Riku's emotions through his eyes. After all... The stupid saying that people loved to say was: Eyes are like doors to your soul. So he took that saying to heart and stared into Riku's emerald green orbs.

Pain. Sadness.

Those were in those emerald green orbs.

"Riku... What's wrong?" Sora asked, tentatively. But the response he got wasn't satisfying at all. The silver haired boy shook his head and took another sip of his coffee.

"Can't you just tell me?" Sora pleaded.

And that was when he snapped.

"Do I always have to tell you everything!? Maybe I don't want to tell you. Maybe I just want some privacy!? God, sometimes I wish you weren't my boyfriend."

The tears. Oh the tears... The crystalline water molecules that Riku hated so. Especially when they were coming from someone he cared for. Someone he loved...

_But I don't love Sora..._

"Do you... Do you really..." Sora tried to say as the tears came from his eyes. He didn't bother to wipe them when he knew they'd come anyway... "Do you really mean that...?" he asked quietly. His blue, blue eyes were filled to the brim with tears as he looked up at the silver haired boy.

Riku flinched. Did he really mean that? No, no he didn't. He opened his mouth to say so but when nothing came out but a groan Sora got up from his seat and ran to the door. Riku followed, of course he would follow, he wouldn't let Sora just run out and into the street like that.

The silver haired boy ran down one side of the street. It started to rain a bit and if he didn't find Sora soon he would be drenched. He passed by a park that he and Sora sometimes went to when they were up for it.

"_I come here sometimes," the brunette said as he sat on one of the rusted metal swings._

"_It's calming I guess," Riku said as he sat on the other swing._

"_I come here... When it feels like nobody loves me..."_

Riku backtracked his steps as that certain memory came flooding into his mind. It was raining hard now and he knew that Sora would get sick if he were out here for too long. So he had to find him fast... And he now had an idea where the brunette just might be.

_They swung in silence. This was so unlike Sora. Sora was usually a bright and cheery kid. So why would he feel like nobody loved him?_

"_Why do you feel like that?" Riku found himself asking._

_Creak, creak. The sound of old metal being used..._

"_I don't know. I-I just do. I guess... I think it might have to do with my dad..."_

"_Your... dad?"_

The silver haired boy ran through the rain and through the park until he reached the playing center. He saw dozens of children running to their parents. But Sora wasn't there... So he continued running, running to the other play center... On the other side of the park.

_Sora nodded. "Un. My dad..."_

"_What about your dad?"_

"_Well... When he found out that I had an interest in boys he sort of went crazy and... Sometimes he beat the shit out of me."_

_Riku raised both his eyebrows. The silver haired teen never had a dad and he didn't know what it would be like. "I'm sorry."_

_Sora looked up at him. "It's alright," he said with a smile. "Because I have you now."_

Riku stopped running as he saw a lone figure by the swings—swinging. He slowly walked towards Sora.

"Can I swing with you?" he asked.

Sora stopped his swinging and looked at Riku. The metal stopped creaking, briefly, before they started up again.

"Sure."

Riku sat down on the other swing and watched Sora swing. He took in a deep breath before starting his apology.

"You don't have to apologize," he heard Sora say.

_How did he know what I was thinking..._

"No. I do." Riku said stubbornly before calming down. "I'm... really sorry for saying what I said..."

It seemed so weird. Riku, apologizing.

"I'm sorry too," Sora said as he swung some more. "For assuming and everything else..."

Riku smirked at the younger boy. "But it was all my fault. If I hadn't told you what was bothering me sooner none of this would've--" Sora's finger was on his lips. During Riku's little rant hadn't noticed that Sora stopped swinging, came over to Riku's idle swing and put a finger on his lips. The silver haired teen looked at the teen in front of him with questioning eyes.

"Shut up," Sora said before removing his finger and replacing them with his lips.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

This... This... is just turning damn fluffy. XDDD. But there you have it. A nice 5 page chapter! WHOOHOO! Sora's bad relationship with his father is revealed. Dun dun dun... That was inspired by uhm... That one book that I read. I think it was called 'Rainbow High'. Good book, good book. Go read it. One warning though... It's a gay book. XP. OHHHH!!! And the swinging stuff was inspired by fireblazie's "Swing" fic. Good Naruto fic. Go read. And while you're at it... Read her... "And They Say Chivalry Is Dead" fic, also. Ahem. I should shut up now. Yes.

So what do you all think? O.o. About this chapter that is... REVIEWWWWW... I live for them o.O.


	4. Secret

**This Mask of Glass**

**By:** psych0tic  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters they are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. Boo hoo. BUT! But I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...  
**Summary:** Riku considers himself 'straight'. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

**Chapter Four: Secret**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

"Shut up," Sora said before removing his finger and replacing them with his lips.

Riku was shocked. Sora was surprised-- surprised at his boldness.

The rain came down harder, faster, colder... And soon both boys were drenched. Riku wrapped his arms around the younger boy, pulling him closer and Sora did the same. Soon they were absorbed in a heated kiss that made them forget that they were making out in a public area. Public area. Where everyone would see them... If there were people there to see them, that is.

Sora pulled away from the kiss and looked into Riku's eyes. They were filled with... Lust? It was pretty hard to tell.

"What?" Riku asked softly as he gazed into Sora's eyes. Raindrops clung to Sora's not so spiky bangs and a few drops slid off of his button like nose. The brunette shook his head, making some unwanted drops pelt the silver haired boys face.

"You know... You're sexy when your hair's down," Riku said as a smirk formed on his lips. Upon hearing this, Sora blushed, madly.

"T-t-thanks," Sora stammered and patted his hair to see if it was _really_ down, as Riku said. Then he began panicking. No one's ever seen him with his hair down before and he made sure that no one saw it down with all the gel he used to make it stick up. Memories of when he was younger flowed into his mind...

"_Why is your hair so long!?!?"_

_Sora looked up into the angry face of his father..._

"_CUT YOUR DAMN HAIR! YOU LOOK LIKE A GIRL!"_

"_Sissy boy! Sissy boy!" Little children chanted as Sora cowered in fear..._

"I'd date you... If you were a girl. But you look so much like one so I guess it won't matter if I..."

Sora shook his head. Of all the times he had to remember those... Minutes passed in silence and Riku began fearing if he caused the sudden silence. He wasn't used to sitting in silence, especially when Sora was around. The young teen would always smile, grin, giggle and rant about something that didn't matter to anyone else but him. It was odd and out of place to see Sora quiet and... sad?

"Did I say something wrong?" Riku asked.

"No," Sora replied softly and buried his head in Riku's shoulder. Riku was surprised, yet again, at Sora's actions. He wrapped his arms around the now sobbing boy, silently vowing to protect him in any way he can.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku walked into his house with Sora on his back. He couldn't believe that the brunette managed to persuade him to give him a piggyback ride and let him spend the night for a few days. But with the other boy around it meant that Riku wouldn't be as bored as he most always was. He climbed up the stairs and entered his bedroom.

Turning on the light, he crossed over to his unmade bed. He gently dropped Sora onto his bed and went about tidying his room a bit. He kicked away at dirty clothes and when he was done he observed Sora.

The younger boy was in a deep slumber ever since they left the park. And even with the lights on it didn't seem to faze him. His childlike face was enveloped in an orange glow from the fluorescent light bulb. The sight before Riku was... breathtakingly innocent. And it was all his. The silver haired boy grinned to himself before turning towards his closet. He picked a few dry articles of clothing before deciding to use the shower.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora shook in his sleep. He tussled and turned and even kicked the sheets off the bed. He was having a bad dream, a bad dream that slightly resembled a memory...

Five-year-old Sora was playing in his living room with a set of blocks that his mother bought him. It was almost dinner and the smells of food wafted into the living room from the kitchen. He piled the blocks into a pyramid and then kicked at it. The blocks fell and Sora laughed, happily, while singing.

"_And they all fall down" He couldn't remember the rest of the song but he thought that, that verse fit his blocks falling just perfectly. He heard his mother calling him to dinner and he reluctantly went. There at the dinner table sat his mother, father and Kairi. He forgot that she was spending the night. How stupid of him._

_Quickly sitting down, they briefly said their thanks before digging in. Dinner was over in a matter of seconds and Sora rushed back to his blocks. Kairi followed him. A few minutes passed, happily and Sora's father called him to his side. Sora stood up and walked over to his father who was reading the newspaper in the corner._

"_Yes?" Sora chirped happily as he reached his father._

"_Do you like Kairi?" Sora's father asked._

_Sora raised an eyebrow at his father's odd question but answered anyway. "Yep!"_

"_Do you like her as a friend? Or something more?"_

_Now that was just baffling. After all, Sora and Kairi were only five..._

"_She's my best friend in the whole wide world!" Sora replied cheerfully._

"_Do you like her as something more?"_

"_Something more?" Sora's eyebrows knotted. What did his father mean by that?_

_The old man nodded. "Like a girlfriend."_

"_Girl... Friend?" Sora said confusedly. This is getting weird... He thought._

"_Yes, like a girlfriend."_

"_Ew! That's nasty! She's my friend!" Sora replied. He was getting quite offended..._

"_What about your other friend? Tidus?" His father asked, coldly._

_A blush appeared on Sora's face. "He's my friend too"_

"_Do you like him more than a friend?"_

"_Uhmm... Well sometimes when I'm over at his place he hugs me and I hug him back and--" Sora stopped speaking. His father had stood up so quickly..._

"_What did you say he does to you?"_

"_He... Hugs me..."_

"_Right. Now finish what you were going to say."_

"_And sometimes he also kisses me..." Sora said quietly._

"_Repeat that."_

"_And sometimes--"_

"_No, that last part. Loudly."_

"_He also kisses me," Sora said loudly._

_A look of hatred crossed through his father's eyes and suddenly his hand was in the air. Sora stared at the idle hand raised above his head... And before he could move that hand was upon his face in a second. Slapped. Sora had gotten slapped._

"_I will not have a gay son do you understand!?"_

_Sora tried to understand what his father was saying. Gay? What's that..?_

_Another slap._

"_I asked you if you understood!?"_

_Sora tried to nod, he really did, but he was still confused..._

And that was when he woke up to someone hovering over him.

"So... You're awake..." a voice said from above.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora looked up at the speaker. His eyes were green. His hair was silver... But it wasn't Riku. In fact it was Riku's older brother, Sephiroth. Sora sat up on Riku's bed, his eyes roamed around the room.

"Uh... Where's Riku?" Sora asked Sephiroth.

"Who cares?" Sephiroth responded.

The brunette gulped and his eyes roamed around the room again.

"I've been wanting to have a talk with you for the longest time," Sephiroth started and one of his hands met Sora's chin.

"Look at me," he commanded. Sora looked elsewhere. "I said look at me," and Sephiroth forced the brunette to stare him straight in the eyes.

"What do you want?" Sora huffed and a smirk appeared on the silver haired boys face.

"Would you believe me if I answered your question?"

Sora stared at Sephiroth, not really understanding. "Nooooo," he drawled.

Sephiroth sighed and his hand fell to the bed. He soon had Sora cornered on the bed with only him in front.

"I want... You," Sephiroth answered his own question.

Sora again stared at the silver haired boy in front of him. True to his word, he didn't believe what Sephiroth told him.

"You see... I've been watching you this whole year and I don't think Riku deserves you. After all... I planned that he went out with you..."

Planned? Well... What the hell did that mean? Sora thought.

"What I mean by 'planned' is that... I told Leon to dare Riku to ask you out. Why? So that he would bring you here."

"...Why...?"

A smirk again donned Sephiroth's features. "So I would be able to do this..." And he leaned in to kiss Sora. Sora tried to fight back but soon Sephiroth was on top of him and kissing, licking and nipping at his skin. Soon the silver haired boy moved away from Sora and stared at him.

"You still don't believe me?"

Sora shook his head. He couldn't believe that Sephiroth just... advanced on him.

"Well then... Where's Riku? Not here. So, that means that what everything I said was true. **He left you. **He left you here to be with **me**. He's gone and he's probably laughing at your stupidity."

"You're lying," Sora growled. "He wouldn't do that to me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He wouldn't do that to me. It's not Riku to just leave me without saying anything."

"And how long have you known him?"

Sora remained silent. How long has he known Riku? Oh, right... 2 weeks. 2 weeks, 14 days, 336 hours, 20,160 minutes, 1,209,600 seconds...

"Two weeks," Sora decided to answer.

"Aa, which means that there would be two more weeks until I could finally take you."

"Take me? What the hell are you going on about?"

"I already told you. Leon dared Riku to ask you out. You are supposed to be with Riku for a month before he 'mysteriously' dumps you. But I can't wait that long..." And with that Sephiroth proceeded in passionately kissing Sora.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku emerged from the bathroom feeling very refreshed. He combed his silver locks and walked back to his bedroom. There were muffled sounds coming from his room and Riku looked at his door curiously. As he came close he thought he heard a faint 'Gerroff' from Sora. But there was no one else in his room... and he was sure that the whole house was empty...

Riku hastily walked towards his bedroom door and kicked it open. It wasn't closed before... And oh the sight he saw when he stood there in the doorway. His jaw dropped, his eyes narrowed and he quickly ran to Sephiroth.

"Get the fuck off of him!" Riku said as he grabbed Sephiroth's long silver mane. He tugged at the hair, which made Sephiroth roughly nip Sora's lip before he fell on the carpeted floor.

Sora sat up on the bed, lip bleeding. He watched the scene in front of him. Here was Riku, so maybe what Sephiroth said was a lie...

Riku got on top of brother and started punching the older teen in anger. Who was he to take advantage of a sleeping person!?

"Dirty bastard," Riku yelled and punched Sephiroth yet again. There was blood on his fists but he ignored it. Grunts from Sephiroth and soon the younger silver haired boy was suddenly thrown off. Riku landed at the foot of the bed and he glared at his older brother. Sephiroth stood and smirked at the two boys before him. He edged closer and closer and suddenly fell on Riku's bed.

In no time Sora jumped off of the bed, helped Riku up and the two boys were found fleeing down the stairs and out of the house. It wasn't raining as hard as it was previously but it was still slippery. They ran down the sidewalk and soon came to a stop by a crosswalk. Panting for breath Sora leaned against the metal pole for support. He looked over at his companion who was shaking and staring at his open palmed hands.

"What the fuck did I do...?" Riku whispered to himself. The drizzle had washed away the little blood that stained his flesh but in Riku's eyes... he could still see it.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked, slowly.

Riku lifted his head to peer into Sora's face. "Did he tell you anything?"

Sora was about to reply with a yes and question Riku about a certain dare that involved them... But thought better of it. He would question the silver haired boy another day; preferably tomorrow.

"No," Sora said and shifted his eyes to the ground.

The silver haired boy looked at Sora. He was lying; he knew it. He also knew that Sephiroth told the brunette everything about their relationship. It was a lie a dare... everything Sora didn't need with all the pain he was carting around with him. So he decided to spill the beans even if they were already spilled.

"You're lying," Riku observed. "Sephiroth wouldn't just make out with you and not tell you his motives..."

"Ok. So I lied. Big deal..." Sora said, his eyes still on the ground. "You're lying too..." he added.

Riku sucked in a breath. Sora was bound to find out sooner or later anyway...

"I know and I'm sorry..."

"Is that all you can say? After deceiving me this whole time... You know Riku... I really loved you," and with that Sora crossed the street and decided to go home. Home, that evil place that he dreaded so much. But the more he thought of Riku the more the tears threatened to come. He really did... He really did love Riku. And all Riku ever did was... lie to him. God, he hated people who lied, he thought as he slowly walked home...

Tidus... I wish you were here with me... Maybe then I wouldn't be so alone..

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku stared at Sora's retreating back. He felt the need to go after him but thought better of it. He was found out. Found out to be a liar and a deceiver in the only person's eyes that actually gave a damn about him. He turned around and decided to walk home even if Sephiroth was there... Even if he had to deal with being beaten...

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

End of chapter. But end of story? Nahhh, I'm having too much fun groveling in their pain. HAHAHA. Just kidding, I actually feel really bad ;-;. And uh... This chapter must've sucked. –nods- Why you ask? Because I have never written anything this emotional before and uh, I haven't gone through anything as emotional as this. O.o; Hey I just get what I see in the movies, okay? XD.

AND YEAAAAAAAAH. Tidus is gone ;-;. Poor Tiddy... I just realized that, that sounded wrong... o.o... Anyway... If you wanna find out what happened to Tidus then you'll have to wait for the next chapter XP. Fuwahaha, I'm evil. Yehp. You guys know what to do -review-. See yaaaaa 3


	5. So Simple

**This Mask of Glass**

**By:** psych0tic  
**Disclaimer: **Don't own the characters. They are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. Boo hoo. BUT! But I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...  
**Summary:** Riku considers himself straight. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

**Chapter Five: So Simple**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku awoke on a pink lacy bed in a pink lacy room that oddly resembled those pink lacy panties that Leon wore... He pushed the pink lacy covers off of himself and sat up on the bed. He looked around the room and found Aerith knocked out on her desk. So... It was she who brought him back into the house when Sephiroth wouldn't open the door... The silver haired boy smiled in appreciation and tip toed out of the room. He continued tiptoeing down the hall and to his room.

Softly kicking the door open and softly closing it he looked around. His room was in a total mess. No doubt from last night and from when Sephy had woken up... Ugh, last night... Riku clutched his head. How could he have been _so stupid_ to actually leave Sora alone? More importantly... How could he have been _so stupid_ to agree to that stupid dare!? And... How could he have been _so fucking stupid_ to... Fall in love? The silver haired boy blinked.

"I am not in love," Riku immediately assured himself. "It's just hormones, it will go away... Besides... Fuck love," he added as he landed on his bed. The bed Sora was on. The bed Sora got molested on. The bed—

The silver haired boy smacked his head. _Quit thinking about Sora damn it..._ So, he turned on his radio to his favorite rock station... And they were playing oldies...

_(I can't go home, I want to forget a love that never wavered with you  
__That day, I disappeared from your eyes.  
__At that point, what could I do?)_

"That day... Yesterday... Ugh..." Riku said and buried his head in his pillow. Of all the songs to play...

_(Looking at you breaking down in tears,  
__I held you more tightly than usual,  
__But you didn't change.  
__How could I have not noticed that now your love was gone...)_

"Gone. Yeah, it's gone all fucking right," Riku grumbled into his pillow. Should he turn the radio off? Nahh, too much work...

_(I was really a fool, wasn't I?  
__Is this how we'll end it?  
__For some reason when I think of you the tears flow...  
__I won't ever hurt you again.  
__Because now at this time I want to hold you.)_

"Mmm... Hold Sora... Yeah..." Riku breathed as he hugged his pillow tightly imagining that it was Sora...

_(I betrayed your love too much, didn't I?  
_"_The present will never again be like it was three years ago"  
__Why did we meet? What did I leave you with?  
__I'll keep continuing to wait until we meet again...  
__I can't go home, I want to forget even the memories.  
__The heart I loved you with hurts,  
__Eternally a love, which I didn't have until now...  
__Our love will never return.)_

"Never... Return..." Riku said as he lifted his head to stare at the radio. "Huh, really?"

And now Riku was going insane. He was talking to an electronic device used for entertainment! But was it entertaining right now? Noo... So Riku grabbed the machine and threw it across his room. What did it matter? Practically half the whole room was in pieces anyway...

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora woke up to the bright sunshine pouring into his room from the blinded window. It was a happy day full of sunshine and birds singing. But why didn't he feel happy? Why? The brunette moaned and buried his face into his pillow. Happy... That was what he wanted to feel. Happy with... With Ri—

"I definitely have to stop thinking about him," Sora said blandly into his pillow. It just hurt to much and he finally found out the truth as to why Riku picked him out of all the other kids.

...Because Sephiroth wanted him. Because it was a dare. Because it was a lie... Because he had to. Because Riku never backed down from anything. Because... Because... Tidus wasn't here... Tidus wasn't here to comfort him. Sora suddenly squeezed his already shut eyes even more closed.

Of all the times to be thinking of _that_... And instantly the scenes replayed themselves over in his mind...

_Sora and Tidus playing in the brunette's living room. Mother is home. Father is not. Seconds later father comes home drunk..._

"_What is he doing here!?" a voice—fathers. Stomped footsteps come closer to the two boys._

"_He's spending the night honey," mother answers as she comes from the kitchen._

_Sora and Tidus lift their heads to see what's going on. _

_Sora sees his father stagger into the kitchen. What's he doing? Getting something to drink...? Doesn't look like it..._

"_Uhm... I think we should go to my room..." Sora said and outstretched his hand to Tidus. Tidus reluctantly took it and was led to the brunette's room. The door clicked shut and they continued to play in safety._

_Meanwhile downstairs..._

"_I told you not to bring that boy over here!!" father half screamed at mother._

"_Who are you to deny me something like that? If Sora wants his friends over then he'll have his friends over."_

"_You do not run this house."_

"_Whatever," mother mumbles to father and stalks out of the kitchen. Father is pissed off. He does not want mother to disobey him; he runs the house not her. He follows her out of the kitchen before grabbing something shiny and sharp..._

_Sora and Tidus are playing hide and seek in the little room that they have. Tidus hides while Sora counts to 50. But their playtime is cut short when a high-pitched scream fills the air. Tidus crawls out of his hiding place and comes to stand by Sora. Both boys are near the bedroom door..._

_Footsteps fumbling up the stairs another scream—but this time it's muffled... Another set of footsteps upon the stairs. They are hard and filled with anger... hatred... In no time Tidus and Sora find a hiding place together. The closet. The doorknob rattles a voice shouts..._

"_OPEN THIS DAMNED DOOR!"_

_No one comes to open it. Sora tries to stifle a squeak. Tidus holds onto his friend, tightly. The doorknob stops rattling and for a moment the naïve boys think that father has stopped coming after them. But they are wrong. Horribly wrong. The sound of a blade upon wood and footsteps were suddenly heard into the room._

_Drunken cursing and things were thrown around. And the door to the closet swung open._

Sora's eyes snapped open and he mentally kicked himself for letting that memory replay in his mind. He tried so hard to forget it but never really left him. Maybe it's because he blamed himself for everything...

After all it was mainly his fault that Tidus moved away and his father was in... that place. The brunet sighed as he rolled over in his bed. He raised his hand to block the sunlight and he just lay there, relaxed but not really. And then he thought of what else happened after his father found them...

_A hand roughly reached into the darkness and pulled a boy out. Father looked down. It was his son._

"_I'll deal with you later," he growled and reached into the closet again to pull out the other boy._

_Sora was frightened about his friend and their situation. But he was only 5½ what could he do?_

_Tidus was thrown onto the floor in the same fashion as Sora. Both boys were on the floor and cowering in fear from Sora's psycho father. Said psycho father still had that sharp and shiny little something in his hands.._

"_I said this once and I will only repeat once more," they heard father growl. He leaned over them, his breath smelling like alcohol._

"_I-will-not-have-a-gay-son."_

_And everything went black._

Sora shuddered in his bed. He clutched his pillow and brought it close to his chest. He didn't remember anything else after his mind went blank. He supposed he fainted or something and then he awoke a few hours later to the sound of an ambulance and police cars.

_He was sitting in a stretcher and people were running all around. He could remember being confused, so, so confused. He wanted to know where his mother was where Tidus was.. He could care less about his father but..._

"_What happened to Tidus?" he voiced._

_The people around stopped running about just to glance at him for a second. He waited for their answer. It seemed like it would never come._

"_He... He's at the hospital..." A person informed him._

_Sora felt his eyebrows contract. "Hospital...?" he said more to himself than anyone else. Someone nodded and he looked at them._

"_Where's my mom?"_

"_...She's at the hospital too."_

_Ok, so now two people that he cared very much for were at the hospital. What did his father do?_

Sora sat up in his bed. His mind raced... What did happen to Tidus? He racked his brain for an answer. It seemed like his brain reluctantly gave one though.

"He... Suffered from a... Serious case of Hemophilia..." Sora voiced. Hemophilia-- that disease that wouldn't let blood clot normally. Tidus was slashed in all the vital places from his stupid father and it was... A miracle that he survived. Then his mother came back a few days later. She only had a few bruises and such but he never saw Tidus again. His mother told him that Tidus moved far, far away and... That made Sora sad. Very sad. He remember asking her what happened to his father and she told him that he was in jail and was going to be there for a very long time. 10 years to be exact.

Sora looked at his calendar across the wall. It was almost his birthday and almost the anniversary of that incident. Which meant that his father would be coming home soon.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku found himself walking aimlessly through his neighborhood. He had nothing to do and since his dare was practically over he might as well... Move on. But did he really want to move on? Eh well... Well whenever he was with Sora something came over him. And that something he never experienced before. Not from girls, his sister, most definitely not his brother... It was... It was different. And he couldn't stop himself from thinking if Sora was alright or not.

The silver haired boy reached into his pocket, searching for his cell phone. When he found it he flipped it on and pressed re-dial. The last person who he called would be Sora, of course. Ringing, ringing... One two three—Phone still ringing... Four five si— A click. Riku mentally smiled and spoke into the phone,

"Hey Sora--"

"This is my uh, answering machine, yeah... Leave a message!"

"Damn machine," Riku grumbled and his eyes widened as he realized what he just said. "Er, sorry about that... Listen I really have to talk to you and... Well just meet me by the park alright?" And Riku hung up. He shoved his phone into his pocket and walked all across the blocks to reach the park. The park where Sora had kissed him in the rain.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora heard the message and he wanted to go he really did but... Something stopped him. He couldn't just go crawling back to Riku not after he found out that his whole relationship with him was a lie. So he sat around his room for the whole day. His mother was at work and Kairi was off doing some "girl-stuff" with Selphie. He sighed—he really felt like no one loved him right now. But he couldn't go to the swings, no, not with Riku there.

If he saw the silver haired boy it would just hurt too much. But maybe... Sora shook his head. No buts, no maybes, I am not going to the park. But the more he thought about not going to the park the more he thought about going there just to satisfy the need inside him that wanted to see Riku. Finally he gave in and trudged all the way to the park.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku was sitting on the swings slowly swinging himself. It felt nice to have the breeze in his hair but something inside irked him. What if Sora wasn't going to show up? _Well why should he after what happened yesterday?_ A voice inside him countered. Riku grimaced but continued swinging nonetheless.

It was a sunny day and there were lots of kids running around the park but none of them sat on the other swing to swing with him. He sighed as he swung and then he started looking around for Sora. Heh, thought so—he wouldn't show up. So the silver haired boy stopped swinging and got off of the swing. He was about to make his way out of the park when there was a tap at his shoulder.

The silver haired boy turned around to see who it was who wanted his attention. And it was the person that he wanted to see.

"Hey," Riku said solemnly as he stared at the milk chocolate haired boy standing before him. Sora nodded in acknowledgement and sat down on the other swing. Riku took this as a cue to sit down on the swing he just left and he did. After a few moments of silence the silver haired boy spoke up.

"I was thinking about what you said to me yesterday... You know how you loved me and all," he stopped there and watched Sora for a reaction. The brunet flinched and a pout was formed on his face.

"...And I couldn't stop thinking about you after."

Sora's head sprang up and he looked at Riku. Did he really mean that? He stared into Riku's emerald pools searching for an answer.

"Look I know before it was all a lie and shit... But... Damn," Riku cursed and looked up into the sky. He was wordless. "Uh... Do you think we could start over? You know as... friends and then something more?"

Sora blinked. Was this for real?

Riku looked at Sora and inwardly cringed. "Or you can just... Forget about me..." he said and absentmindedly started swinging.

"I'll take your offer if you promise me one thing," Sora said slowly. Riku stopped swinging. Were his ears lying to him? He turned his head so that he faced Sora.

"Which is?" he asked, eager to know what Sora wanted.

"No more lies," Sora said and then his usual grin was back on his face.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

They were back. Back together and it wasn't because of some stupid dare or lie. It was all based on their emotions and well... their hormones too. After they got back together they ran to the jungle gym that resembled a boat. They went into the boat's cabinet (**a/n:** I don't know if it's called a cabinet but that one place were the captain stays) and sat down on the metal ground.

"Sooo..." Sora said as he stared at Riku who stared at him.

"Damn I've missed you," Riku said and hugged the boy. Sora giggled and hugged Riku back and soon they were found making out in the boat.

Tongues battled against each other, hands clumsily wrapped themselves around each other...

Riku pulled away from the brunet to catch a breath and then dove back in. Sora just tasted so... chocolaty. He ran his tongue over Sora's lips and then he dipped his tongue back into the other's mouth. He moaned as Sora's chocolate taste tingled his tongue and he brought his hands underneath Sora's shirt. The silver haired boy caressed the other's skin lovingly and when he pulled away Sora was beet red.

"My birthday's in two days," Sora announced. Riku looked over at him and smirked.

"So what do you want to do?" Riku asked and licked his lips as he inched himself closer to the brunet.

"Ohhh a little someone called Riku," Sora winked as he saw Riku's eyes widened.

"You naughty, naughty little boy you," the silver haired boy said as he tackled Sora to the ground.

Sora giggled and placed a kiss on Riku's nose. "So what do you say?"

"Do you seriously want to do me?" the silver haired boy breathed.

"Not really," Sora said with a little laugh. Riku narrowed his eyes and rolled off of Sora. The brunet laughed at Riku's reactions.

"Actually I just want to spend the whole day with you."

Emerald eyes met ocean blue in a staring contest.

"Then it's settled."

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

End of chapter. FUWAHAHA. But I'm not done yet. XP. XP. XP. Sora's psychopathic daddy has to come back... OO. And Sora's birthday has to be celebrated! Yeah! Well how'd you like this chapter? o.O;; I don't really like this chapter haha. But yeah, it's necessary for the rest of the plot to unfold... I think it sucked. XD. I think this chapter sucked. SUCKED, SUCKED, SUUUUUUCKED!! But yeah... Tell me how to improve it ;-;.

Oh and the song that Riku's listening to is the English translation of Dir en Grey's Yurameki. Isn't it such a beautiful song? ;-; I love it to pieces.

I got the translation at: www . centigrade-j . com


	6. Starting Over

**This Mask of Glass**

**By:** psych0tic  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters. They are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. Boo hoo. BUT! But I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...  
**Summary:** Riku considers himself straight. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

**Chapter Six: Starting Over**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku felt a surge of emotion as he entered the school building the next day. It was Monday and sure he hated Monday's but... Today was the first day of his official relationship with Sora. He grinned at the thought and made his way towards the brunet's locker. Unfortunately Sora wasn't there yet. But Riku would wait. No matter how long Sora took, he would wait.

Sora stumbled through the school doors as if on cue by Riku's thoughts. He walked down the hallway: hands in pockets and cheeks ballooning. He was thinking and he was thinking rather hard it would seem because he suddenly passed by his locker _and_ Riku.

Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's odd behavior and he outstretched a hand to grab the smaller boy. When he did Sora turned around with a dazed expression on his face that suddenly brightened.

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked Riku with a big Sora-like grin on his face.

"Waiting for you," Riku replied as he guided the brunet towards his locker. Sora smiled and opened his locker he put whatever he put into his locker and then closed it. He then looked at his watch. They had at least 15 minutes to chat before homeroom started.

"Why'd you walk past your locker?" Riku asked Sora as they were walking down the hallway, hand in hand.

"Ehh..." Sora replied and started swinging his and Riku's hand.

"Ah come on!" Riku said as he nudged Sora with his elbow. "Your birthday is coming up soon... You should be happy."

"But--"

"Ah, ah! No buts," Riku said as he put his index finger over Sora's lips—instantly silencing the brunet.

Sora huffed and pouted a bit. How could he say anything when Riku's finger was over his lips? The milk chocolate haired boy suddenly had an idea. A very... Kinky idea... His face instantly brightened as he thought of it. And Riku's finger was still on his mouth so...

Sora licked Riku's finger.

Simple as that.

Just one swipe of his tongue and Riku blushed, quickly removing his finger.

"What was that for!?" Riku asked, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. Sora laughed at Riku and shook his head.

"So I could talk," he explained.

Riku nodded showing his understanding and they slowly began to walk down the halls again. In silence. Which Riku started to dislike.

"Say something," he suddenly said.

Sora looked up at Riku with questioning eyes. "Something?" he said, furrowing his eyebrows adorably.

"Yeah, something," Riku said as he turned towards Sora with a smile on his face. They reached their destination: Sora's homeroom with only a few minutes before the bell rang. The silver haired boy took Sora into his arms for a minute long embrace.

And they just stood there.

Arms around each other.

For what seemed like eternity.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora was in his second period now, which was art class. All around him students were chatting, painting, drawing... And he just sat there staring at the block of clay in front of him. The teacher gave them an easy task today: create your favorite thing.

And Sora sat there poking the cold material whilst thinking of what to sculpt out of it. His favorite thing, huh? If only he didn't have a lot of favorite things. He looked around the classroom at whatever his fellow classmates were doing. Basketballs, food, Victoria Secret models... He shook his head. None of those things were his favorite.

Sora closed his eyes to think. He furrowed his brows. "What is my most favoritest thing in the world?"

And oh the images flashed inside his mind. But he only focused on two things: hugs and kisses from Riku. But how was he supposed to sculpt that!? Well... he could sculpt them kissing... Or hugging... Or he could just sculpt Riku.

"Ehh... I'll just sculpt us hugging," he muttered to himself and went to work.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

It was lunchtime and Riku waited for Sora by his locker. It seemed that he was practically always the one doing the waiting. But Sora was almost always late... The silver haired boy sighed and checked his watch. The bell rang three minutes ago and he was beginning to wonder what took the brunet so long.

Suddenly there were footsteps in the almost empty hall and Riku's head snapped up. _Must be Sora_, he thought with a smile. And indeed it was Sora. Riku smirked at the sight of his boyfriend running towards him—arms outstretched. But the silver haired boy only imagined the arms outstretched part so when Sora finally reached him...

"HEY! NO! YOU MIGHT CRUSH IT!!!"

"Huh?" Riku said as he hugged Sora.

"YOU'RE GONNA CRUSH IT!!"

"Crush what?" Riku asked annoyingly as he pulled away from Sora.

"My sculpture," Sora said with a grin as he found out that it wasn't crushed by Riku's manly arms.

"What sculpture?" Riku asked with an eyebrow raised.

"This sculpture of a... bunny," Sora lied and opened his locker to put it away. Riku had a feeling that Sora was lying to him but he shrugged it off as he took Sora's hand in his. The brunet grabbed a brown paper bag from the depths of his locker. He closed the locker before skipping and dragging Riku out of the halls and into the sunny schoolyard.

It wasn't a hot day but they sat underneath their oak tree to shade themselves from the sun. Riku leaned against the trunk of the tree and stretched his legs before picking up his lunch to eat. Sora settled himself between Riku's legs and he leaned on the older boy.

"So, about tomorrow," Riku said as he wrapped his arms around Sora's waist.

"Hnn?" Sora hummed and dug inside his bag to see what his mom made him. He took the sandwich out and inspected it. It didn't look like bologna, nor did it look like cheese... TUNA FISH SANDWICH! EW! He dropped the sandwich back into his bag.

"Do you wanna just skip school for the whole day or... Celebrate when school's over?"

What a stupid question to ask.

"Let's skip school the whole day," Sora said with a smile on his face as he reached back into his bag to look for something edible.

"Alright," Riku said with a smirk as he reached into his own bag bringing out Doritos, a ham sandwich and some Juicy Juice.

Sora still had his hand in his bag when Riku suddenly shoved his sandwich in front of Sora's face.

"Not as tasty as the teriyaki one but at least it's edible," the brunet heard Riku say. Sora shrugged his shoulders and leaned in to bite the offered sandwich. And while he was chewing the sandwich disappeared so when he wanted another bite...

"Hey, where'd the sandwich go?"

Riku burst out into laughter and parts of the sandwich that he was eating suddenly came out of his mouth. The other parts went down his throat causing the handsome boy to choke.

"It's not funny," Sora said and pouted oblivious to the fact that Riku was choking.

"Hrk ghck..."

Huh, that was odd. 'Hrk ghck?' What's that supposed to mean? Sora turned around and he saw Riku making weird gestures towards his throat. He raised an eyebrow.

"What're you doing...?" Sora asked as he watched Riku's eyes bulge out of their sockets and more weird hand gestures.

_Oh... my... God... STUPID SORA CAN'T YOU SEE I'M CHOKIIIIIIIING!?!?!?!_, Riku mentally screamed. He was about to cry, he was about to faint... Hell, he was about to die.

And suddenly it dawned upon the younger boy that his boyfriend just might be...

"CHOKING!?!?!" Sora screamed as Riku nodded vigorously. It was Sora's turn to have his eyes bulge out of their sockets as he got off of Riku and started pounding on said boy's back. Hopefully it would help because Sora didn't know how to do the Heimlich.

More pounding later and Riku finally hacked up the piece of sandwich that decided to lodge itself in his throat. He glared at the evil piece of food before turning towards Sora with a grin.

"Thanks for saving me," he said with a little wink.

Sora giggled and leaned into Riku. "You're welcome."

"Buuuuut I think you gave me tons of bruises," Riku said as he pouted down at Sora. "You abusive boyfriend you," he added and they suddenly burst out into laughter.

Yehp, nearly dying, being saved by your boyfriend and laughing about his abuse is fun.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Sora entered his house holding his sculpture in his hands. It was of him and Riku hugging. He thought it looked kinda odd but dismissed the thought. He was going to give it to Riku tomorrow or something. Tomorrow—his 15th birthday. He grinned as he went up the stairs and to his bedroom. He was going to spend the whole day of tomorrow with his favorite person in the world: Riku.

Sora put the sculpture on his shelf before throwing himself onto his bed. And then he was drifting into a deep slumber.

Sora's mother entered her home, tired and hungry. She sighed as she walked past the hall and to the living room. She went over to her phone, which had its red light blinking, indicating that she missed a message. Pressing a button and turning the volume up the message started playing.

"Monday, 1:00 PM: Hey honey, I'm coming home tomorrow at around 12 so you better be there to welcome me back. Oh shit, I gotta go, see you tomorrow. –Beep-"

Mother stared at the answering machine in disbelief. Was it really 10 years already? She checked her calendar. Yep... It was 10 years... Which meant that he'd come back tomorrow. And tomorrow was also Sora's birthday.

She sighed and quickly went up the stairs to Sora's bedroom. They had to leave. They had to leave now, unless she wanted to cope with the psycho she married...

"Sora--" Mother said but suddenly stopped talking as she saw her son asleep on his bed. She smiled and was about to leave him alone when she remembered that they had to pack tonight. They absolutely had to. So she walked into Sora's room and sat on his bed. She sighed again.

"I wish I didn't have to do this but..." she whispered and shook her son slightly. "Sora, wake up."

Sora mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep and rolled over in his bed.

"Sora! Wake up!" Mother hissed and shook him more vigorously.

Sora's eyes snapped open and he saw his mother shaking him. "W-what?" he asked sleepily.

Mother took a deep breath before telling Sora the horrible news.

"Your father's coming home. Tomorrow."

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

End of chapter. Hehe. This story is almost coming to a close ;-;. BUT DON'T WORRY! I will have a sequel up n-n! ...That is if you want me to o.o.

**L337 Mistress:** Hehe, I like what you said. But uh-- :X. I shouldn't say because you'll find out in the next chapter :3.

**Shadow-Kitsune:** And what'll you do if I hurt Sora? Ò-ó eh? EH? WHAT? XD

Thank you for all of your reviews! ;-;. I really appreciate getting them ;-;. Thanks for inflating my already humongous ego XD...


	7. I Will: Part One

This Mask of Glass 

**By:** psych0tic

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters. They are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. Boo hoo. BUT! But I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...

**Summary:** Riku considers himself straight. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

**Chapter Seven: I Will Part 1**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

"Your father's coming home," Mother said in a trembling voice, "Tomorrow," she added. She looked at Sora, searching him for any kind of emotion.

"So?" Sora said and rolled back over to get to sleep. He didn't fully understand why his mother was so scared. Surely jail would've softened his father... right?

"What--" Mother sighed and shook her head. "Sora, honey, we have to pack, now."

"Why?" Sora asked. This time he sat up and stared at his mother in the eye. "Wouldn't jail soften him? So when he comes back he'll be really nice and..."

"Stop being so naïve!" Mother said. "He left a message on our answering machine and his voice is as gruff as ever."

"So what does that have to do with anything?"

Mother rolled her eyes. "Sora, you don't understand. When he finds out about you and Riku he is surely going to kill the both of you."

Now this was getting interesting. Not only did his mother mention that his father was going to kill him and Riku when he comes back but... His mother knew about his relationship. She knew! And he didn't even tell her. Now to find out how she knew...

"How do you know about Riku?" Sora asked his mother curiously.

She looked at him incredulously. "Are you crazy!?!?! PACK!! OR ELSE I'LL MAKE YOU PACK!!"

"Alright, alright," Sora said as he tumbled off his bed. He made sure that his mom had left before packing whatever he wanted to bring. And suddenly it dawned on him. He was leaving. Sora stopped his packing. Leaving... But leaving where!? His mother didn't tell him... All he knew was that his father was coming home tomorrow and—Tomorrow!? Holy crap! That's my birthday!

"_So, about tomorrow," Riku said as he wrapped his arms around Sora's waist._

"_Hnn?" Sora hummed._

"_Do you wanna just skip school for the whole day or... Celebrate when school's over?"_

"_Let's skip school the whole day," Sora said with a smile on his face._

Sora was supposed to spend his whole 15th birthday with Riku. But could he? Not with his father's sudden release from jail. Oh and his mother's demand to pack and leave... Why did his life get screwed over again!? Just when he found someone something happens that would separate them. _Forever_. Sora shook his head. He will see Riku someday even if they're both married and have kids and— There was a knock on his door.

"Come in," Sora said softly as he began to repack.

"Uhh... hey?" a very familiar voice said as its owner stepped inside the room.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed as he turned around to glomp the older boy.

"Yehp, that's me," Riku said with a chuckle as he looked down at Sora. Then his eyes wandered to the opened suitcase on the bed.

"Are you going somewhere?" Riku asked as he let go of Sora and made his way towards the bed. He stood there, staring at the clothes that were thrown into the suitcase.

"I..." Sora began as he made his way towards his bed. He sat on the right side of the suitcase and stared at Riku. "I'm moving," he said softly. Sora gulped and shifted his eyes to his feet that were restlessly moving about. And when Riku would ask that question... he would have to tell him why he was moving. All of it. His whole life story and what not.

"...Why?"

And there was the question just as Sora had foreseen. I mean... It was common sense... Sora sighed. He didn't know where to begin... So he had to tell him what his mother told him earlier. He wasn't even going to question Riku on why he was here instead of at home.

"Because my dad's coming home," Sora replied, still looking at his restless feet. They were swinging off the bed and kicking the mattress.

"So why does that have to make you move?"

"My mom found out about us and she said if we move then we'll all be safe from my dad..."

"Okay..." Riku said. Now he was confused. Safe from Sora's dad? What the hell?

"Basically my mom's scared that if we stay here then he'll continue to abuse her and if he finds out about me and you she said he might kill us. Both of us.." And Sora began to shake but he had to continue. "It won't matter if I'm his son. I'm dead to him."

Those words echoed in Riku's mind. _Dead to him_. But why? Why was Sora... dead to his father? What happened... Riku noticed Sora shaking and he made his way towards the other side of the bed. It would be his last time, he figured, his last time to hold the other boy in his arms. His last time. His last chance. Riku gently pushed the suitcase aside and sat down next to Sora. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy and Sora rested his head against Riku's chest. Riku finally voiced what he was wondering.

"What happened?"

Sora decided to wait awhile before answering. Why did Riku have to ask a very ambiguous question!? There were so many answers to 'what happened?'. And Sora could only think of one.

"What happened was that my father came home drunk one night," Sora mumbled into Riku's shirt. He was still leaning on Riku's chest. "I had a friend over—a guy friend and... I guess he got mad at my mom or something and he beat her up and then he came after me and my friend..." Sora was shaking again so Riku's hands went to run themselves through his boyfriend's milk chocolate hair. This calmed Sora down and he continued.

"He found us in my closet and I remember him pulling me out first and then... And then the police people told me I fainted..."

Riku chewed this bit of information before lying down on the bed, Sora still on top of him. "So what happened to your guy friend?"

"Tidus he... He got in the hospital. Apparently my dad went crazy and tried to kill him... And then a few days later my mom told me that he moved away and that dad was in jail."

Riku's hands were again playing with the brunets and Sora was still lying on Riku.

"I'm sorry," Riku said as his hands moved down to the small of Sora's back. His fingers moved around in circles as he massaged the younger boy. Sora's life just seemed so stressful.

"It's... It's alright," Sora said as he began to feel himself drift off. Lying here with Riku was warm and relaxing and it just made Sora want to sleep, forget about packing... And forget all about tomorrow.

And that's what he did.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Riku awoke the next day, early as usual, to find a little sleeping boy holding onto him—tightly. He smiled as he watched Sora sleep. He looked so innocent, peaceful and trouble less. And it seemed really rude to just wake the brunet up. He looked at his watch and groaned. It was only 5:47 AM. Then he remembered that Sora was leaving today. Leaving Destiny Islands, leaving his school, leaving his friends, his life and him: Riku.

And then it seemed almost right to just wake Sora up. He gently pushed Sora off of him and sat up on the bed. He glanced at Sora before tickling the younger boy. Sora's eyes seemed to snap open immediately after he gasped. The brunet glared at Riku and sat up on the bed.

"What was that for?" he asked, a little pout forming on his lips. Riku smirked and shrugged—one of his usual answers for Sora's childish questions. Riku then wrapped his arms around Sora and tried to forget that the brunet was leaving him... _forever_.

"Happy birthday," the silver haired boy whispered in Sora's ear making him shiver. Riku's lips descended from Sora's cartilage and landed on the brunet's neck. He kissed, licked, nibbled and sucked on the sensitive skin there making Sora shiver even more. Riku stopped doing what he did to chuckle softly and then continued.

That was Sora's birthday present.

"Nn... Yeah... Happy! Whoo—God, Riku that tickles," Sora half moaned half said. The brunet leaned into Riku and raised his hand to caress Riku's cheek.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I wish I could take you with me," Sora said with a little pout.

"I wish I could go with you," Riku said softly. His lips were back to Sora's ear and he kissed the lobe. His little kisses ascended to Sora's cartilage and he quickly nipped it. His kisses then descended towards the lobe and he slowly began to lick Sora's ear.

My, my...

Sora shivered at the touch. It felt weird and lovely at the same time. He leaned into Riku some more with a contented sigh. Riku's hands seemed to have a mind of their own. They trailed down Sora's waist and up the brunet's shirt. They caressed the soft skin underneath which caused the brunet's breathing to quicken and become irregular.

"Mm, Riku..." Sora whispered as he felt Riku's loving hands rub themselves over his skin. Oh, how it felt so good.

Riku was in a moment of pure bliss and needless to say so was Sora. But his mind wandered... What was he doing? Hell, they were only 15... Was he really going to let this little session of theirs go all the way? Or was he going to stop right now?

"Why'd you stop?" Sora's voice pierced the silence.

Riku shook his head of the thoughts. He smiled at Sora in that enchanting way of his before placing a kiss on the brunet's forehead.

"It's almost 7 and I think your mom's coming down the hall," Riku responded softly. He heard a faint 'oh' from Sora before the brunet toppled off of him and landed on the floor. Sora got up from his position and rubbed his bum. The door creaked open and both boys turned their heads towards the door.

Sora's mother stood in the doorway in her nightgown. Her eyes moved from her son to Riku and then back to her son. After a few moments of silence she finally spoke, "We're leaving at 11:30." And with that she closed the door and disappeared from their world.

Riku glanced at the digital alarm clock on Sora's nightstand: 7:10 AM. Four hours and 20 minutes until Sora leaves... Riku concluded. He gave a short nod to himself before pushing his bum off the bed. He placed his hands behind his head and stood by Sora.

"Want me to... Help you pack?"

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

I... Am... EXTREMELY... SORRY... For this really short and VERY, VERY, VERY late chapter. ;-;! Please forgive me! I had to study for finals and all that crap. ...And I still have to study for finals... Ugh, I hate finals. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF... I'm frikken' failing math ! Anyways... I'm really sorry for this chapter. It sucked majorly—I know. Forgive meeeeeeee!! See ya. ;;


	8. I Will: Part Two

**This Mask of Glass**

**By:** psych0tic

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters; they are owned by Squaresoft and whoever else thought of them. BUT! I do own the story. Even though it's a tad cliché...

**Summary:** Riku considers himself straight. No exceptions included. So what happens when he gets dared to ask Sora, a guy, out for a date? And... also to be a couple for a whole month?

**Chapter Eight: I Will Part 2**

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

A few hours went by and the two teens have finally finished packing. They fell on Sora's bed, one on top of the other.

"Ahhh! Geroff meeh!!" the younger of the two managed to say with a heavy and tired Riku on top of him. Sora tried to push Riku off but the boy wouldn't budge.

"No," Riku said and wrapped his arms around Sora. He adjusted his position on the other boy so that his head was resting on Sora's stomach. Sora's soft... fluffy... stomach. That he would surely miss.

Sora, who could now breathe and talk properly, wrapped his arms around Riku's neck. He looked around his now almost bare room. Riku helped him pack almost everything into some boxes and now the brunet was wondering how his mom would fit all of that in the car. Surely there wouldn't BE any space left. He looked at his watch and sighed.

"It's 9:30," Sora announced and put his arm back to it's previous position.

_Two more hours to go..._

The two boys thought simultaneously. Riku tightened his embrace on Sora as soon as the thought left his system. He buried his head in Sora's stomach and breathed the wonderful smell of freshly done laundry.

"Riku..." Sora gasped as he felt the other boy hug him tighter. "Rikuuuu..."

"Mm," Riku said and continued to smell Sora's scent.

"Riku! You're..." Sora struggled to say as he also struggled to breath.

"Hot? Yeah I know..." Riku said as he buried his head once more into Sora's stomach. He tightened his grip, oblivious to the fact that Sora couldn't breath.

"Yes! But. You're. Killing. ME!"

Riku's head snapped upwards and he raised an eyebrow. "How... Am I...?"

"Ca...n't... Bre...athe!" Sora said in an abnormal high-pitched voice.

"The hell?" Riku said as he raised another eyebrow. "How can you... OH!" Riku exclaimed and loosened his grip on his boyfriend.

"Hehe. Sorry about that," Riku said and smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay," Sora said while taking a very large breath.

"Sooo... What do you wanna do?" Riku asked as he stared at one of Sora's blank walls.

Sora shrugged and sat up on his bed, oblivious to the fact that Riku was still lying on him. Therefore, Riku ended up in a very... awkward position and he suddenly sat up in alarm.

"WE ARE NOT DOING... THAT!" Riku said as he stared at Sora incredulously.

"Doing what?" Sora asked confused.

"THAT!" Riku explained.

"That?" Sora asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah! That!"

"...Riku I have no idea what you're talking about," Sora confirmed with a nod of his head.

"Oh," Riku said and suddenly he began to feel stupid. "Never mind then," he said and scratched the back of his head. Sora laughed and got to his feet.

"How about we just... go to the park?" Sora asked as he outstretched his hand to help Riku up. Riku's eyes flitted upwards meeting Sora's and he nodded his head.

"The park... Sounds good," Riku said while taking Sora's hand.

The two boys exited the house, holding hands, on a bright and sunny day.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Kairi made her way towards the park, camera in hand. It was a nice sunny day and it was also in the morning. She hoped to take pictures of the park for her art project and going in the morning where there were less people was a very good idea. She stepped on the concrete walkway and stopped. Observing the park she saw two people on the swings, one with brown hair and one with silver hair. It hurt her eyes.

Kairi thought that they looked awfully familiar and made her way towards them. Maybe... if she snuck up on them... She would have a great-unplanned picture. It would be a great memory. She snuck into the bushes and made her way slowly towards the two boys.

"Oh come on! Just push me!" Kairi heard Sora say as she snuck closer.

"Eh, push yourself," Riku said with a little laugh.

"Just one more time!" Sora whined.

"Fine," Riku said.

Kairi finally found a good place in the bushes to take the picture. She found a hole in the bushes that gave her the perfect view of the couple. _Perfect_, she thought as she raised her camera to eyelevel. SNAP! The picture was taken. She looked at her digital camera to see how the picture ended. But she couldn't really see... So she popped out of the bushes. Sora emitted a scream and Riku got whacked in the stomach with the swing.

"Hey! That turned out good!" Kairi said oblivious to the fact that she ALMOST gave Sora a heart attack.

"What turned out good?" Sora asked as he jumped from the swings and landed near Kairi.

"This picture of you and Riku!" She said as she showed the picture to Sora.

"Let me see," Riku said as he slowly walked towards the two. He clutched his stomach all the way and viewed the picture. Sora was swinging on the swing with a cheesy grin on his face and Riku was leaning on the pole with a smile on his face. It was a... Good picture.

"Isn't it great?" Kairi asked Riku as he came closer.

The silver haired boy nodded and sat down on the ground. "What're you doing here?" Riku asked her.

Pain flashed in Kairi's eyes for a second. _Does he not want me to be here...?_ She asked herself and then decided to answer. "Art project," she said in her usual tone. A smile crept onto her face as she closed her eyes to hide them.

"Oh," Riku said and shifted his position so that he was lying on the grass. He stared at the clouds that were slowly drifting around.

"So... Kairi, you're skipping school to do an art project?" Sora asked as he raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like Kairi at all.

"Yes and no," Kairi replied as she turned towards the brunet. "I'm skipping school to do an art project AND find you..."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Because it's your birthday and... Your mom called my mom and..." Kairi dropped her head and felt tears spring to her eyes. "I can't... Believe you're..."

Sora's head drooped and he smiled sadly at the ground. "Yeah..." he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. He stepped towards Kairi and gave her a hard hug.

"I'll..." Kairi sniffed and wrapped her arms around Sora. "Miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Sora said as he placed a kiss on her cheek. "Don't cry ok?"

Kairi stepped back from Sora and nodded. "I won't," she said as more tears threatened to fall.

"Promise?" Sora asked and held out his pinky.

"Promise," Kairi said with a smile as he took Sora's pinky in hers. "You'll come back... Right?" Kairi asked.

"Of course I will," Sora said unsure if he ever will come back.

"Good," Kairi sighed happily and wiped a few stray tears from her face. "I'll... be going now," she said as she waved her camera at the two boys. "B-bye."

Riku got up from his position and watched Kairi run away, camera in hand. He took Sora's hand in his and they walked down the path leading to the lake. They sat down on the bench that was seated so that you could view the water.

"Pretty," Sora commented as the sunlight hit the water, which made it seem like diamonds were sparkling.

"Yeah... But it's prettier at night, you know, with the moon and stuff," Riku said as he watched the water, also. He then tilted his head so that he was watching Sora instead. It seemed like the diamonds in the water were reflected in Sora's true blue eyes. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hey what's this?" Sora asked as something dropped into his lap. It was a yellow star shaped fruit with a little green leaf hanging off one its ends.

Riku gasped for breath and stared at the fruit in Sora's hands. _Breathing is required!_ Riku mentally scolded himself before asking,

"Where'd that come from?" he asked.

"I dunno," Sora said and expected the fruit. He sniffed it, cleaned it on his shirt and was about to break it in two when Riku suddenly swiped the fruit from him.

"HEY!" Sora exclaimed and tried to reclaim the fruit but couldn't.

"Hmm... It's a Paopu fruit," Riku said after staring at it for awhile.

"Paopu?" Sora said and turned his head to see a Paopu tree situated behind them.

"Yehp. Legend has it that if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined and they'll remain apart of each other's lives... No matter what," Riku explained.

"No... Matter what?" Sora asked and swiped the fruit from Riku.

"No matter what," Riku confirmed and swiped the fruit from Sora.

"So then... Let's share it," the brunet said as a light blush appeared on his cheeks.

Riku nodded and broke the fruit in half. He took one half and handed the other to Sora. "On the count of three... One,"

"Two," Sora continued.

"Three!" they both said together and bit into the fruit. It was warm and juicy and... tasted like... fresh water with a hint of lemons.

Riku, having finished eating his Paopu, looked at Sora. A bit of Paopu juice was dripping out of Sora's mouth and the silver haired boy had an extremely strong urge to lick it off. And that's what he did.

"Uhhh... Riku?" Sora asked as Riku sat in his previous position.

"Hmm?" Riku hummed as he grinned at the sparkling water.

"Never mind," Sora said with a snort.

"Okay," Riku said, that cheesy grin still plastered on his face. There was a thump and something heavy landed on his lap. Riku thought it was another Paopu fruit but was surprised to find out that it was Sora's head.

Sora sighed into Riku's lap as both boys watched the water wash in and out.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

Kairi was done taking pictures of the woods and walked down the path, towards the lake. She sighed as she kept her eyes trained to the ground. Sora was going to leave her on this island. How could she live without her best friend? It was just too hard to believe. But she knew it was for a good cause. Sora alive and out in the world somewhere surely would be better than a dead Sora? Of course.

Kairi's head snapped up as the concrete was replaced by rock and sand. Then her head drooped again as she walked towards the water. She dragged her feet through the sand and rocks, not really caring if her shoes were going to get dirty.

She finally reached the water and she crouched down. Hugging her camera and picking up a few stones she decided to skip rocks. Of course... She sucked at that. The rocks just plopped into the water, created a minimal splash and sunk to the bottom.

"I should take a picture of that," she said to herself as she got her camera in hand and a rock in the other. She threw the rock and snapped a picture of the splash. Kairi got bored with the rocks and water after awhile and stood up to find something else to take a picture of. She looked around the lake and found a Paopu tree.

"I should take a picture of that," Kairi said and walked towards the tree. When she was near the trunk she raised the camera so that she could get a good picture of a cluster of Paopu fruit hanging from a branch. The sun's rays shone through the leaves giving them an almost translucent green look. Kairi snapped the picture and then looked around. There was a bench situated in front of the tree that wasn't preoccupied. Or so she thought when...

"Kairi, what're you doing here?" Riku asked as he turned his head to see her.

"Uwa!" Kairi almost screamed.

"Sssh, you'll wake up Sora," Riku hushed her and then pointed towards the sleeping boy in his lap.

"How did I NOT see you?" Kairi asked as she looked at Riku.

"Dunno. You're blind," Riku said with a soft laugh as he patted the arm rail.

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "You want me... To sit on that?"

"Yuhp," Riku said with a grin.

Kairi rolled her eyes and took a step back to take a picture of Riku and Sora. Once that was out of the way she took her seat on the metal arm rail.

"This hurts my butt," Kairi whined.

"Live with it," Riku commented.

"Whatever," Kairi mumbled as she took a picture of the sparkling water. Silence soon engulfed them and Sora just wouldn't wake up.

"Wake him up," Kairi said just to break the silence.

"No, you wake him up," Riku countered.

"No, you do it," Kairi hissed.

"You do it."

"No, you do it."

"You."

"You."

"No, you."

"Hey guys... Shut up."

"No, you shut u—Sora?" Kairi said and almost fell of the arm rail.

"Yehp," Sora said as he raised his head out of Riku's lap.

"Since when did you wake up?" Riku asked.

"Since you two wouldn't shut up," Sora said with a smile.

"Oh," Kairi and Riku said simultaneously.

"Yeah..." Sora said with a nervous laugh.

Now that Sora was awake the silence seemed to be more pronounced than anything. The sound of the water seemed to be louder than the sound of their breathing. The sound of a dog barking seemed to be louder than the sound of the water, however. And the sound of Kairi suddenly shrieking seemed to be louder than anything. Especially in Riku's ears.

"What the hell was that for!?" Riku asked Kairi who was now on the ground and getting licked by a huge orangey-yellow dog.

"Pluto! GET OFF!" Kairi said and pushed Pluto away. The dog bounded across the shore and back towards them. He carried a stick in his mouth, which he dropped in Kairi's lap. The redhead picked up the stick and threw it off somewhere; Pluto soon followed.

"Stupid Mr. Mouse's dog," Riku said as he watched the dog run off to find the stick.

"I wonder what he's doing here anyway," Kairi said as she fingered the seams on her white tank top.

"Mr. Mouse is probably jogging or something," Riku said and they all nodded. Mr. Mouse was the school's principal. He was short, had really big ears, and liked to stay fit. Though, why he would go to the park on a school day, nobody knew.

"Oh... Crap," Kairi said as she looked at her watch. "It's 11:20... I gotta go, guys. Bye," she said and gave Sora one last hug before she left. The two boys watched her leave before getting up themselves.

"I have to go in 10 minutes," Sora grunted and walked towards the path, Riku in tow.

"I know..." Riku said and ran to catch up with Sora. He laced his fingers with Sora's and they walked towards the park's entrance/exit.

"Hey... Can you promise me something?" Sora asked Riku.

"Anything you want," Riku replied as they started walking towards Sora's home.

"Promise me you'll... Do whatever it takes to make Kairi happy?" Sora mumbled.

"Huh?" Riku asked—he had not heard what Sora said.

Sora sighed and repeated what he just said, a bit louder.

"Oh. Yeah of course I will," Riku said as Sora's house soon came into view. They saw Sora's mom running from the house to the car and back. As they approached her she looked at them and then ordered Sora to go bring his things down to the car.

"I'll help," Riku said as both boys entered the almost empty house. They went up to Sora's bedroom and back down again, carrying boxes and a suitcase. They packed everything into the compact SUV and Riku stood on the sidewalk. He was going to watch the car just... Go. He was going to watch Sora leave him. He was—What the hell is Sora doing getting out of the car?

"Sora, hurry up!" Riku heard Sora's mom call as Sora swished past him to get inside the house. Minutes later the brunet emerged carrying something in his hands. He placed the sculpture in Riku's hands, an aloof smile on his face.

"Remember me, don't forget me," Sora said as he looked sadly into Riku's eyes.

"Don't forget me either," Riku responded as he too looked into Sora's eyes.

"Don't forget your promise," Sora said with a small smile as he stood on his tiptoes to kiss Riku on the lips.

"I won't," Riku whispered as he kissed Sora back. "And remember to come back..."

"I will, Riku, I will," Sora said as he hugged Riku one last time. He then walked backwards towards his car, tears apparent in his eyes as he got inside. The engine started. The wheels turned. The car disappeared into the road. Sora disappeared.

The pain shot through Riku's heart and he started crying, non-stop, not caring if anyone saw him at all. He looked at the sculpture in his hands. It was blurred because of his tears and he saw that it was a sculpture of them. Hugging. It was cute. And he would cherish it all his life until Sora came back.

_Sora... You better come back._

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

You're giving me too many things  
Lately you're all I need  
You smiled at me and said,

Don't get me wrong I love you  
But does that mean I have to meet your father?  
When we are older you'll understand  
What I meant when I said "No,  
I don't think life is quite that simple"

When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go

The daily things that keep us all busy  
Are confusing me  
That's when you came to me and said,  
Wish I could prove I love you  
But does that mean I have to walk on water?  
When we are older you'll understand  
It's enough when I say so  
And maybe some things are that simple

Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before

THE END.

.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.

It's finally done. Whippeeee! I think the ending sucked. . ;; Anywho... It's done! Whoo... Hope you enjoyed it all. Thanks for the reviews! I appreciated them muchly. And angel-of-mayhem hearts to yooou since you always review and such. XD. AND LOOK! I FOUND PAOPU FRUIT;;; It's called Carambola or Star Fruit. And it is so yummy . It even looks like a Paopu fruit... Well... When it's cut XD.

Here look at it:  
http : www . floridagardener . com / pom / starfruit . jpg (just remove the spaces .)

And now I feel like.. Uhm.. Translating some names. Lol. Yehp.

**Riku – agony of separation.** Oh how I love that name.  
**Sora – sky.** Duh, everyone knows that!  
**Kairi –** and this one was really weird. Because it has a lot of meanings. O.o;; Like... Beaver and... Nautical mile lmao. BUT, the one I'm going to go with is **dissociation.**

Credits for the translations are here:  
http : poets . notredame. ac. jp / cgi-bin / jedi-inon

Yehp. See ya in the sequel, that is, if I can get off my ass and write it XD.


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